free trade. I don't acknowledge the trade deficit is a mess, it's buying goods. If you buy Pizza, you have a trade deficit with Pizza Hut. That's not a "mess", you bought something

Free trade doesn't solve the fact that China has been and always will charge tariffs.

A trade deficit is a self destructive phenomenon. It's physically impossible for it to exist continuously forever. (In terms of total net trade in and out of a country). If you count up the total goods entering/exiting America (or any other country), it will always be net neutral. The only reason its seemingly not the case with America is a purely monetary phenomenon and wouldn't exist without dollar hegemony. And this isn't hurting America (at least any more than its hurting the rest of the world at Americas expense).

Well that's the problem. Free trade can only happen if everyone does it. And even then, problems can occur, but it may tend to balance out. Since every country would have plus trade with some countries and negative with others. Anyway, lets consider only two countries for a moment. If you go the free trade route and buy all my stuff while I block my people from buying your stuff, it's a problem. You give me gold bars every month while I give you silver, eventually you run out of money. And let's add on that my geopolitical goals are counter to yours. Now you are funding my ambitions which directly harm you. Free trade sounds like the correct answer, but what do you do when your rivals choose to take advantage?

Yea, if we were trading in gold, we would have run out long ago. But we don't, so debasing the currency is easy, which... yea.